. even if things are economically tough, we're better off than we werefouryearsagowhen we were staring into the precipice of our impending doom. second, by using facts, i tried to show their attacks on president obama's policies are simply wrong. their views about the role of government in the economy simply don't hold up under the slightest scrutiny. and third, i tried to show how our current politician and even the individual mandate for health insurance do, in fact, fit neatly into the vision of the nation as the founding fathers and our constitution. the result quite frankly was to convince not a single member of their camp. perhaps that's not surprising given the rather fractured and polarized nature of our politics but it was troubling to me. facts simply bounced off of them. in the beckian world view, fear runs rough shod over truth and absurd claims about the role of government pass off as an ideological construct. whohow do you debate that? thank goodness for the first amendment. that's my view. you'd s

there is an effort bytheobamacampaignto say look, you've been working on the issues forfouryears. you know them inside and out. you know debates. focus on trying to have a good time. enjoy yourself. both campaigns are suggesting they think that the first debate may be not so -- it may be like john mccain and barack obama four years ago. the first debate was the first letdown. a lot of wonkiness. they didn't go after each other very hard. they were a little bit nervous in feeling each other out. >> eliot: the notion they would enjoy it, i can tell you i've been through debates nothing on term with that, you don't enjoy it. there are butterflies in your stomach when you walk out there. you know the campaign potentially rests on every utterance you make. there is the his tansey -- hesitancy no matter how skilled you may be, there is a hesitancy and a fear. that's unavoidable. >> how do you deal with glenn beck who is a master of television regardless of what people may think about him. they're using a nice picture of you g